Smoked Pork Chops with Cold Smoke-Balsamic Glaze
April 13, 2023
Barbeque and Smoked
,Main
,Pork
“Vegetables are interesting but lack a sense of purpose when unaccompanied by a good cut of meat.”
Humans love meat. Our desire for calorie-dense food developed in the African savanna when meat consumption significantly honed the Archaic Homo sapiens evolution to more intelligent humans with larger brains and smaller guts with full capability to communicate verbally. The human brain is a very nutritionally demanding organ, and its growth and maturation became possible only when our proto-human ancestors began eating energy-dense foods available to them. Once this meat-eating progenitor figured out how to process meat via cooking, the need for a large jaw and large chompers became obsolete, instigating the development of smaller jaw muscles that ultimately lead to the fine motor skills required for speech. Essentially we acquired a proclivity to what made us smarter and more verbose.
Pork is the most commonly consumed meat and luckily, according to USDA, it is much leaner than it was back in the 1950s. Modern svelte pork chops can be a part of any health-nut’s diet, taste mild, and work really well with so many seasonings including that which is imparted by smoking.
While early humans hung out around their fires eating meat they discovered that hanging the meat in their caves, brewing with smoke, preserved it better and helped slowly cook their food storage. They probably liked the taste of it too.
Smoking has a uniquely distinct flavor that no other cooking technique can replicate. The process of smoking meat “low and slow” enhances the meat’s subtle flavors, and breaks down the collagens, rendering the meat much more tender and flavorful as the melting fat fuses with the meat to create a truly novel and delicious eating experience.
Judging by the number of smoked recipes we have shared on The Taste of Montana you might have already guessed we are huge fans. Today’s pork chop recipe is also smoked, requires overnight marinating, and the glaze is one of our finest made with KettleHouse Brewing’s Cold Smoke Ale (may be replaced with your favorite scotch ale.)
When done right, this meat’s delicious tender juicy texture and natural flavors with smoke and fatty undernotes will taste like choirs of umami angels singing for your tongue. Serve with bbq grilled zucchini and a pint of Cold Smoke to complement your dinner.
Smoked Pork Chops with Cold Smoke-Balsamic Glaze
Ingredients
- For the brined pork chops
- 4 pork chops bone-in
- 2 cups sparkling apple cider
- ½ cup kosher salt
- 1 TBSP Herbes de Provence
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ½ TBSP garlic powder
- ½ TBSP black pepper
- Lemon zest
- For the Cold Smoke-balsamic glaze
- ½ cup Kettlehouse Cold Smoke Ale
- 2 TBSP balsamic vinegar
- 2 TBSP dark brown sugar
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- Cayenne pepper to taste
Instructions
- For the brined pork chops
- In a bowl, whisk together the apple juice, brown sugar, kosher salt, Herbes de Provence, black pepper, garlic powder, and lemon zest.
- Pour brine over the pork chops and refrigerate to overnight.
- The next day, remove the pork chops from the brine, rinse, and pat dry.
- Heat the smoker to 180ºF.
- Place the pork chops in the smoker and smoke for 30 minutes.
- Take the pork chops out of the smoker, and increase the heat to at least 450ºF.
- Place the chops into the grill, and Baste the pork chops with the Cold Smoke-balsamic glaze after 10 minutes.
- Continue to cook the pork chops until the internal temperature reaches 145ºF.
- Let the chops rest for 10 minutes before cutting.
- Now we’re cooking!
- For the Cold Smoke-balsamic glaze
- Combine all ingredients until well-mixed.
- Reduce glaze over medium-low heat until it thickens, 15 minutes.
- Keep warm.
